Decaytale
by IamDragonFury
Summary: The prequel to "Ruintale", showing the events leading up to Chara's betrayal and what went through his head in the process, Toriel's descent into madness, Asriel's reclusion and life in the Ruins, and Frisk's fight for survival before fleeing Chara's kingdom.
1. Chapter 1

Decaytale

Chapter 1.

Here it is, the first chapter of my prequel to my Ruintale AU.

* * *

 **(Chara's POV)**

Humans, what can I say about them?

Collectively, they are all the same.

Boring.

Petty.

Diseased.

Weak, if not physically, then mentally and or emotionally.

Annoying.

This list goes on, but, my point stands.

They're all the same, even me.

Hell, I may even be the worst, and I'm not even nine years old yet.

"Chara!" I suddenly heard.

I looked to my side and found my "brother" run up next to me, Asriel is his name, Asriel Dreemurr, he is a young monster with the features of a goat, just like his parents. Obviously, if you couldn't tell, we are not biologically related...thank God...I was adopted over a year ago after I ended up here, having "fallen" from the mountain above. Okay, actually, I jumped, not because I was "depressed" or "at my wits end" like most people in that situation, no, let's just say I did something generally frowned upon in human society and had to disappear.

"Chara?" Asriel said again to get my attention.

Seems he can't tell when he's being ignored; knowing he wasn't going to leave me alone, I turned toward him with the fakest, yet surprisingly deceptive smile I could muster.

"Yes, Asriel," I asked nonchalantly, "what do you want?"

"Dinner's ready." he informed me.

"Super," I replied, "what're having?"

"Mom's special stew." Asriel stated with a smile.

Oh stop, don't flatter her, the only "special" thing about it is that it has more carrots in it than regular stew, like, a grossly absurd amount of carrots. I don't hate carrots, but, my God a horse would look at the amount she puts in it and be like "I think you have a problem", seriously, just because they're _her_ favorite vegetable doesn't mean they're everyone else's.

"Oh boy," I said, feigning joy, "I can't wait."

"Come on," my "brother" insisted, taking me by the wrist, "we have to get it while it's hot."

With that, he blissfully dragged me to the dining table, where two steaming bowls of carrot stew, not what it's actually called, but, it may as well be, were waiting for us.

As I sat down to eat, I looked around at my "family", you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it, but, they, along with pretty much every other monster, at their meals from typical dishware, with typical eating utensils, just like the typical human beings up on the surface. In fact, they did just about _everything_ like humans, eating, bathing, schooling, child-rearing, it was baffling.

When I first got here and was taken in, I thought, "Hey, maybe this'll work out, surely monsters must be _vastly_ different from humans." God, how wrong I was, they were so much like humans that, when I first realized it, I felt physically ill. Legit, every time I hear a conversation between monsters, whether it's Toriel and Asgore, who were my "parents", or any other monsters, I feel that I could vomit out everything in my body onto the ground, because, if I closed my eyes, I'd swear I was listening to humans bitch and moan about stuff that _nobody cares about!_

Seriously, every other conversation I hear from monsters is "My job" this and "my family" that or in the kids' case "school" this and "my parents" that. I swear, if I had the reflexes, I could stab every one of them, over and over, look them in the eyes as I do it, feel nothing as I do it, and then play in their dust. Really, the only things that separates the monsters and the humans is their physical appearances, how their souls work, and the monsters' magic, other than that, there is hardly a difference at all and I hate it. They have all this magic, yet, they use it only for "expressing themselves" and work, very rarely have I ever actually seen monsters get into a FIGHT, and I have yet to see one end interestingly. They always try to hold themselves back, because, apparently, they're not that hard to kill...pathetic.

They waste it, they waste their magic, Toriel only uses hers for housework, cooking, and healing us if we get hurt, Asgore is pretty much the same way, mostly using his magic for gardening and making tea or feed, Asriel has yet to fully develop his powers, but, for what he has now, he barely does anything with it. They're the leaders of this society, they could use their magic to hold everyone firmly under their thumbs, but, they don't, because, they prefer to be pacifists, I swear to Christ, if I ever hear Toriel say "Remember children, violence is _never_ the answer." again, I'll take everyone of her books and burn them to ash right in front of her!

If I had any power like theirs, I sure as hell would do far more than dick around, God, how frustrating it is to be so close to so much power and not have any access to or control over it.

"Chara?" Toriel suddenly spoke.

I looked at her.

"Have you been reading any of the books I gave you?" she asked.

"I...just finished one of them." I answered simply.

Honestly, I skimmed, I barely even the remember the title.

"Did you like it?" my "mother" wondered, "Did any of it fascinate you?"

I shrugged.

"It was a'ight." I stated coolly.

"You mean it was 'all right'." she corrected me.

I. Don't. Fucking. Care!

"Got it." I responded.

"Well, do try and at least take a look at the others," Toriel advised, "they are full of information that a young prince should know."

They're all about monster culture, which, not only you told me about when I first got here, but, I literally experience _every single day_ from the moment I wake up until I fall asleep at night. What more could I possibly need to learn that I can't learn from what goes on around me.

Oh yeah, about what she just said, I should probably explain it, see, Asgore and Toriel, are in fact the King and Queen of monsters, meaning Asriel is the Prince of monsters. Technically, since they made me part of the family *gag* I too qualify as a prince.

"Yes, I know, Toriel," I voiced with fake innocence, "I'll try, though I think I learn more just by talking to everyone around here."

"Chara we have been over this," she laughed, "you are our child, so call me 'Mom'."

Bitch.

"Right..." I said awkwardly, "...Mom."

Ugh, I didn't even refer to my biological mother as "Mom", to actually refer to this _thing_ as "Mom", or any variation of that, is _literally_ painful.

"And you call me 'Brother'." Asriel added.

I tense as he reached over and hugged me tightly, ugggggghhhhh, the only physical contact I have ever made with people was the kind that usually resulted in them ending up on the ground, often bleeding. Every time that crybaby hugs me or grabs my hand, it takes everything that I have to resist laying him out, three times I've nearly strangled him because he had the nerve to sneak up on me and tackle me to the ground, trying to convince me to play one of his stupid games.

"You know, Chara," Asgore said, "tomorrow, I am going to see Uncle Gaster and talk to him about some important stuff."

"Uncle Gaster" is Asgore's best friend and royal scientist, whom he visits regularly.

"I was thinking that," the king continued, "tomorrow, when I go to the lab, I would like to take you kids with me."

"Really?" Asriel responded, "But, I thought that we weren't allowed in the lab."

"That is only without supervision," his father affirmed, "however, since you will be with me, it will be just fine, so long as you do what you are told."

"Yay," Asriel said happily, "Chara, we're going to the lab!"

The only response I could bring myself to give was a halfhearted smile and a feeble fist-pump.

* * *

 **(Still Chara's POV/Hang in there folks)**

So the next day, after we got up and got ready, Asgore dragged me and Asriel to Dr. Gaster's lab, Asriel prattling on and on about how excited he was and how fun it was going to be, while I just tuned him out. Calm the hell down, kid, it's a _lab_.

Once we were there and Asgore met up with the scientist, he and the skeleton man, yes, Gaster is a skeleton, went into another room to talk, while we were left with the Gaster's kids. Two sons of his own and a daughter, a lizard girl that he had adopted after finding her abandoned as a baby, the oldest son's name was Sans, his younger brother's name was Papyrus, and their "sister's" name was Alphys. They were all quite a bit older than us, Sans was fifteen years old, Alphys was fourteen, and Papyrus was almost thirteen, so, they were responsible for us while the grown ups were out of the room.

While Asriel listened to the big kids talk about some of the labs machines, I decided to go take a look around, of course, not before, Sans told me not to mess with anything. Christ, I'm eight years old, not two.

I walked through the lab, looking at the many wires and mechanisms along the way, it was impressive for one man and three kids to create and keep together, I'll give them that. However, as I walked, I suddenly heard voices, which I quickly recognized as Asgore's and Gaster's, coming from the room just up ahead. Curious, I decided to see what was going on, without making my presence known of course, so, I approached the door, standing just out of doorway, and listened closely.

"So...where does this leave us?" Asgore asked.

"Well, from what I've gathered, the barrier is made of soul power," Gaster answered, "so, it will take just that to destroy it and quite a bit of it at that."

"How much is 'quite a bit'?" the king queried.

"The equivalent of, at least, seven human souls." the scientist affirmed.

" _Seven human souls_?" Asgore responded, confounded, "How are we supposed to get seven human souls?"

"Well, the safe, but, slow way would be to hope that seven humans fall down here from Mount Ebott," Gaster offered, "however, as I ran the test, I may have found another solution...though you may not be up for it."

Silence.

"I am listening." my "father" stated.

"Well," Gaster sighed, "it appears that somebody could _bypass_ the barrier, if they had a powerful soul, by which I mean, the soul of a monster and a human fused together."

Monsters can absorb human souls? Oh yeah, I think that's what started the war between the races.

"A monster and human soul fused?" Asgore mused.

"Yes," the scientist said, "and in that instance, you would only need _one_ human soul."

"Again, how are we supposed-" the king started, but, stopped.

What followed was several seconds of silence.

"Oh...no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I...no, no we cannot," Asgore suddenly uttered frantically, "Gaster, we cannot, no matter how desperately we want freedom, such a thing is out of the question."

What is he...oh...I get it...I'm _one_ human soul.

"I know, I'm not for it either," Gaster said, "but, hear me out, there may be a way to do it, without actually harming the child."

"A way to absorb a soul without killing the organism housing it?" Asgore replied curiously.

"Yes," the scientist explained, "now, I don't recall it ever having been done, however, I have explored the possibility once long ago, and, with great amount of power, it should be power."

"A great amount of power?" the monster king sighed.

"Which you have," the skeleton man attested, "you are the strongest of all monsters, as expected of our king, I have no doubt that you could pull of such a thing, plus, if that child were to know of his true potential, then it absolutely should be possible."

My...true potential?

I heard Asgore mumbling and sighing, obviously thinking it over.

"I am...not sure," he said, "I do trust your skill and logic, Gaster, but, there is still so much risk...I...I just do not know if it is worth it, plus, it seems like it would be unfair to ask such a thing of Chara."

You bleeding heart wuss, you call yourself a king? If it were me, I would...I would...hmm...

Is this the chance I've been looking for, an access to great power?

I'm not wasting this opportunity, it's go time!

"Knock knock!" I called out, knocking on the doorway as I spoke.

My voice apparently startled both of the monster men.

"Chara?" Asgore questioned, "What are you doing? You were supposed to stay with Sans."

"I'm sorry," I responded, with fake innocence, "I got curious and decided to look around and...well...I couldn't help but overhear your conversation just now."

"You...heard all of that?" the king replied meekly.

"Yeah, I did," I continued, putting on my amazingly fake, yet somehow convincing smile, "and, gosh, I would be more than happy to let you absorb my soul and get what you need to break that barrier!"

It took everything I had to keep a straight face when I said that.

"Chara," Asgore expressed, "that is very kind of you, but, I am just not comfortable attempting such a thing, I cannot take such a gamble with your life."

Trust me, it is not _my_ life you should be worried about.

I couldn't let this chance get away, it was time to put on the greatest act of my young life.

I took a deep breath, exhaled, intertwined my fingers, holding my hands up, and looked up at Asgore with _the_ most pitiful look I could muster.

"Please, Daddy," I pleaded in the most gloriously fake, pitiful voice I've ever done, swallowing hard as saying the word "Daddy" nauseated me slightly, "please do it, I wanna help free you and the monsters, I want everyone to be happy, please, please, I love you so much, just please let me do this for you."

Keep it together, must not laugh, must not gag, must hold this facial expression as long as possible.

"Chara...I..." Asgore said hesitantly.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures, I told myself I would never do this, but, this must happen. Pushing aside every uncomfortable feeling, clenching my throat shut, I threw myself at my "father" and _hugged_ him tightly.

"Please," I begged incessantly, "please, please, please, let's do this, please, let me help you, please, please, please..."

"All right," Asgore finally said, "Chara, all right, I will talk to your mother about it, and, tomorrow, if you are still up for it..."

Tomorrow? Oh no, we are _not_ waiting until tomorrow, for all I know, by then, you might change your mind.

"No," I insisted, "not tomorrow, I wanna get it done now! Let's do it now!"

"Okay, okay," the king replied, "Chara, we may, but, first, I _have_ to talk to your mother and brother about it, they need to know what is going on."

"Yay!" I cried childishly.

* * *

Sometime later, after Asgore explained the soul fusing idea to Toriel and told Asriel what was going on, he and myself went to the castle's throne room, where said fusing would commence. Toriel and Asriel were there for moral support, while Dr. Gaster stood by, ready to lend some of his own power; at the same time, Gaster's kids, Sans, Papyrus, and Alphys, were watching on the monitor from their father's lab.

"It is not too late to stop," Asgore told me, "you know we do not have to this."

How many times has that been today? Thirty? Forty?

Give it up old man.

"I'm not changing my mind," I insisted, "I _want_ to do this, please, just let me do this for you."

You're not taking this away from me.

"Your Highness," Gaster voiced, "are we doing this?"

Asgore sighed deeply for the eighth time today.

"If Chara truly wises for this to happen," he said, "then...yes...let us proceed."

"Oh, Asgore," Toriel said meekly, "please be careful."

"Do not worry, dearest," Asgore replied, "I will."

Asriel looked at me.

"I can't believe you actually want to do something like this," he voiced, "it sounds so dangerous."

You would say something like that.

"But, no matter, that just tells me how brave you are," my "brother" continued, "I know you'll be just fine."

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, Chara," Asriel then asked, "when we get to the surface, what should we do first?"

I shrugged.

"Uh...pfffft..." I simply answered, "lie in the grass?"

"Oh yeah," the prince replied gladly, "we could look at those...things...the clouds!"

"Yeah!" I said with fake optimism.

Don't count on it, kid, I didn't plan on taking any of you with me when this is over.

"Are you ready, my son?" Asgore asked me.

"As I'll ever be." I stated.

He then picked me up.

"Remember," Gaster said, "you gotta put your souls, everything, into it."

Asgore wrapped his arms around me as tightly as he could, though, held back slightly, presumably because he did not want to hurt me. I could then feel the warm sensation of his raw power emitting from his body, though, due to the way he was holding me, I could not see what was going on around me. Regardless, I closed my eyes and began to put my own "power" into it, my "Determination" they called it, thinking about what I wanted and why I was going to do what I was planning to do.

Freedom, _my_ freedom that is, I don't give a shit about these guys' freedom, however they get out of here, that's their problem, not mine.

I also wanted power, not just strength or magic, but, authority as well, I want to be in charge, I want to be king, even God if possible. I want the humans to, not only kneel, to lie face down in the dirt before me and beg for mercy, beg for my assistance.

This world and everything in it is going to be mine-

"It is done." I suddenly heard.

Suddenly, I looked around and found that my point of view had changed, I was not looking at Toriel, Asriel, and Gaster, all of whom looked completely stunned. I noticed that I could not see Asgore anywhere, then, I looked down and saw that, not only was I now in the king's body, but, the fusion had resulted in Asgore's body being vastly altered. He was bigger, his horns had grown three times their size and were curled, his hair and beard had turned brown, like my hair, grown in length, and were quite wild.

"Ah, yes," Gaster said excitedly, "the absorption was a success, and on the first try at that!"

So, it worked? It worked!

"Ch-Chara?" Asgore spoke, his voice sounding a bit distorted.

"Huh?" I responded, "Oh, yeah, I'm here, I can hear you."

Incredible, I can feel it, I can feel the power reaching deep into my soul!

"All right," the king said, "I guess...it is time, let us be on our way."

"To the surface!" I cried.

"Please, come back safe," Toriel pressed, "if anything goes wrong, return here immediately!"

"We will be fine, dear." Asgore stated.

Well, _I'll_ be fine.

Asgore then began to make his way towards the barrier, it won't be long now, I can feel victory calling my name!

* * *

There you have it, the start of my Ruintale prequel, I cannot wait to work further on this.

Yes and I swear, the final chapter of Tyrantale is in progress, nearing the climax and it should not take me too much longer to finish it.

I know it may seem kind of out there to have such bad language coming from an eight/nine-year-old, but, no joke, I know kids like that, including a seven year old, who has a filthy mouth when her parents are not around.


	2. Chapter 2

Decaytale

Chapter 2.

Continuing the fall into ruin.

Here we go!

* * *

 **(Chara's POV)**

Asgore slowly approached the barrier, stopping just in front of it, looking it up and down, taking a moment to observe the flashing of light and pulsating colors it was made up of.

" _Hear goes nothing_." he thought.

Yeah, I could hear his thoughts now, this was going to be so much fun.

Asgore finally stepped through the barrier, which was surprising not that thick at all, it was about as thick as regular-sized chocolate bar.

"Just keeping walking straight and we'll be there." I told him.

Had I known the village was this close to the land of monsters, I probably would have done this a long time ago.

" _Six_ ," I heard Asgore think, " _just six and...absolutely **no** casualties_."

" _That's what you think_." I thought to myself.

"What was that, Chara?" Asgore asked aloud.

Shit, guess he can hear _my_ thoughts as well...better be careful.

"Um...you really think we can do this?" I inquired innocently.

"We should be able to," the king replied, "so long as we work together and tread lightly."

It's almost laughable, how clueless he is.

Finally, we made it to the human village, it was in the late afternoon, close to 5:00 p.m., so, there was not much activity.

"It's awful quiet right now." I noted.

"Yes," Asgore said, "which means that we will have to be tactful about this."

Wasn't that your plan from the beginning?

Asgore cautiously entered the village and it was at that point I asked a vital question.

"So...Dad...since our souls are one now, does that mean I have control as well?" I inquired casually.

"From what I have heard," he told me, "depending on the situation, when a soul is absorbed by another, control of the body usually does end up split between the two owners of each soul."

"So...hypothetically speaking..." I pressed, hiding my urgency, "I could take control whenever I wanted?"

"If you absolutely needed," Asgore said, "like, if something happened to me and I was unable to keep going, then you would pretty much _have_ to take control and get us out of here."

That's all I needed to know.

It was then we finally spotted a lone human, a woman who looked to be in her mid twenties, on her knees as she tended to her garden. Luckily, she was facing away from us, so she had no idea that we were there.

"Found one," my "father" sighed, "we better do this before anyone sees us."

"Yes," I responded, "we better."

My soul throbbed erratically with excitement as we approached the woman from behind.

"Forgive me for this." Asgore mumbled quietly.

It was now or never, mustering all of the Determination I could manage, I forced my soul to engulf Asgore's, taking control of our body for myself.

" _What...Chara!?"_ Asgore thought tensely.

I ignored him, using our combined power, I forcibly caused the king's fingernails to turn into long, beastly talons, much more befitting of this form.

" _What do you think you are doing, Chara_?" the anxious king thought to me, " _Answer me!_ "

Again, I ignored him.

I then let out a low growl, alerting the woman to our presence.

As soon as she saw us, the woman looked on in alarm, eyes so wide they could've popped out easily.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH," she screamed at the top of her lungs, "MONSTEEEEEEERRRRRR!"

I then plunged my newly created claws straight through the center of that sorry bitch's body, slashing her with my free hand to detach her from them. The woman's lifeless body fell to the ground, her blood quickly pouring out and spreading all around her.

With that, I gave control back to Asgore, who stared in horror as the human woman's soul rose up from her body, hovering right above her corpse.

"Ch...Ch-Chara..." he spoke haltingly, obviously processing what had just happened, as he took the human soul in our hands, "what have you done?"

I laughed, casting off my innocent facade at long last.

"Sorry, old man," I said bluntly, "but, I have my own priorities."

At that moment, more screams rang out, as other villagers had now stumbled onto the scene, calling attention to the rest of the town as they came towards us, a majority of the adults being armed.

"Look!" a twentysomething-year-old man shouted, clearly leading the crowd behind him, "There it is! It killed her! I saw it! It killed her! Murdered her!"

"AAAAH!" a middle-aged human woman cried, "Oh God, it's do horrible!"

"How did you get here!?" an elderly man questioned us.

The humans continued to cry and squabble in fear and anger, children sniveling to their parents about how scared they were and begging them to make the "bad thing" go away.

"No, no, no," Asgore mumbled frantically, "this was not supposed to happen!"

"You'll pay for this!" the same man who had led the rest of the villagers to the scene suddenly yelled at us, before picking up a large stone and throwing it at us.

Asgore lifted his arm to block the stone, however, his forearm was the struck by something else, which turned out to be a bolt from a crossbow.

"Together everyone!" a human man shouted, "Kill it as it killed one of our own!"

With that, the humans went all out, assaulting us with a barrage of stones, arrows, bolts, spears, anything and everything they had on hand. We were struck many times, though, thanks to my position, Asgore was the one feeling all the pain.

" _Hmm..._ " I thought, " _maybe now would be a better time than any to get more of souls_."

I tried to take over Asgore's soul once again, though, I guess he had heard me, as I felt his soul throb violently, keeping me from getting a hold of him.

"No, Chara," the king growled, "not again!"

No matter, I already got what I needed.

Wounded and clearly in agony, Asgore turned away from the humans and ran from the village, some of the humans chasing after us until we were outside of the town.

"Chara, why?" the king questioned me, slowing down as his undoubtedly fatal injuries began to catch up with his, "Why did you do that? The plan was to get souls _without_ killing anyone!"

"That was _your_ plan, Asgore," I retorted, "my plan however was to simply...get a soul, by any means necessary."

"But, to kill an innocent person-" he grunted, beginning to stumble.

"One, you don't know that she was innocent," I proclaimed, "two, it wasn't about getting _her_ soul, it was about getting a monster soul."

"A monster s-" the king huffed.

"Yep, and not just any monster's soul," I interjected proudly, "but, the most powerful of all monsters' soul."

Asgore didn't respond.

"Thanks for literally handing me your soul, dumbass!" I sad gleefully.

Finally, we could see the barrier in the distance, however, our vision became blurry, I could feel Asgore's soul twitch as it started to slow down, it was clear that the king was fading fast, yes, soon his soul would be mine to take.

"Why..." Asgore asked sadly, "why would you do this? We...we loved you...you were our son...what could possibly warrant such treachery?"

"Oh, you poor, simple, blind oaf," I voiced earnestly, "don't you get it? I never cared about any of you, not you, not that _bitch_ Toriel, not that sniveling wuss Asriel, absolutely none of you! I couldn't care less about your guys' freedom or happiness, all I wanted was my own freedom, my own power!"

Asgore did not respond, either because he was too stunned by my words or just too weak by this point.

"With your soul," I told Asgore, as he hobbled through the barrier, "I will be able to take as many souls as I damn well please, I will hold the human race firmly in my grasp, I will be God, do you hear me, _GOD_!"

Finally, the moribund king staggered into the throne room, where Toriel, Asriel, and Gaster had been waiting, and collapsed to all fours slowly reverting back to his normal form.

Those in the room were perplexed by the sight, though their confusion quickly turned to panic when they noticed the state of their king.

"Darling!?" Toriel gasped.

"Daddy!" Asriel cried anxiously.

"Si...re?" Gaster spoke unsteadily.

 **(Normal POV)**

Toriel ran to her fallen husband, who reached for her as she dropped to her knees in front of him, she held him as he grabbed her by her shoulders, leaning into her embrace. Asriel soon ran to him as well, while Gaster took only a few steps forward, before stopping.

"Gorey," the queen inquired tearfully, "my love, what happened out there? You said that you would be fine, what did those humans do to you!?"

"Chara..." Asgore panted weakly, "it was Chara."

"Chara?" Asriel responded, baffled, "What happened, Chara?"

Asgore shook his head.

"Chara...betrayed me..." the king heaved, his grip on his wife's shoulder loosening, "he lied to us, mislead us...he was never going to help us."

Toriel looked on in shock.

"What...but...Chara..." Asriel responded sadly, "...you promised...why..."

As his entire body went limp, the king reached under himself and pulled out the lone human soul he had gotten from the surface.

"Chara...used me to kill a human..." he revealed quietly, "when the other humans...saw...they...they attacked with everything they had...they were so afraid..."

Toriel looked at the human soul, then at her husband.

"Do not...let...Chara...take...yours..." Asgore exhaled.

with that, he was gone, his dust spreading out around them, much of it coating Toriel's clothing.

* * *

At that same time, in the lab, Sans, Papyrus, and Alphys, who had been watching the entire time, had witnessed the moment themselves. Sans was quick to cover his younger sibling's eyes, as they promptly buried their faces in his shoulders.

* * *

Toriel looked down at herself, petrified by the amount of her husband's remains strewn about her dress, her arms, her hands, and the ground. She then turned her attention to the human soul Asgore had presented, still hovering in front of her, and took in her hand.

"Da...ddy?" Asriel whimpered, staring at the dust-littered ground.

Gaster did not say anything, horrified by the incident, he staggered backwards before turning to run out of the room, all the way back to his lab. The scientist rushed through the entrance of the lab and promptly leaned back against the door, hyperventilating.

"What have I done?" the skeleton man murmured hysterically, "What have I done? Why did I have to..."

He continued to mumble miserably to himself, before dissolving into tears, unaware that his children were watching from the next room. They did not say anything though, Sans closed the door before they could make their presence known, feeling that their father should probably be left alone for a while.

* * *

While everyone was absorbed in their shock and grief, Toriel and Asriel sobbing over their husband and father's dust, Chara, who still had Asgore's soul in his possession, hurried from the room while nobody was looking. This time, with all of his determination, he made his soul completely envelop Asgore's, suppressing any remaining consciousness of the now deceased king and releasing the power of it into his tiny body.

Chara merrily ran down the corridor, laughing as he approached the barrier.

"Yes, yes, it's mine now, everything is going to be mine," the impassioned child giggled, "the human race will be in my hands!"

He stopped at the barrier and happily jumped through it, he looked up at the sky, it was now nighttime, the moon was just coming up.

Chara then turned his attention to the human village, but, it was not his sole target, not by a long shot.

"It's time." he said darkly.

* * *

Whoo, second chapter is done!

Now I just need to figure out where to start and what to detail next.


	3. Chapter 3

Decaytale

Chapter 3.

And now, back to the crumbling.

* * *

 **(Chara's POV)**

I made it back to the human village, but, laid low until sunrise, as the humans had spent the night laying the woman whose soul I had taken to rest. Though, why the funeral took so long, I had no idea; seriously, how long does it take to bury one body?

Come morning, once everything was calm, I decided that it was finally time to take action, walking up the winding stone path until I reached the center of the village. Not surprisingly, the few people who were outside hardly acknowledged my presence.

"Attention, everyone!" I called out.

I barely got any reaction, save for a few curious glances, from anyone; no surprise, I was covered head to toe in dirt, not much to look at.

Let's try this again, this time, I tapped into my souls, releasing the power inside me, surrounding my body with a neon-red aura.

"I said," I called out again, my voice having becoming deeper and, what some may describe as, almost demonic in nature, "ATTENTION EVERYONE!"

I released a powerful bolt of lightning from my body into the sky.

Now all eyes were on me, I even saw people running out of their homes to see what was going on.

"Is everyone listening?" I voiced, "Good, because, I have a very important announcement for all of you."

Using my new found power, I rose about twenty feet off of the ground.

"From this moment on," I proclaimed, smiling as I saw the humans look on, horrified, "I will be regarded as your first, last, and only king from this point on until the end of time. Not just of you lot here in this village, I'm talking of the human race as a whole, every inch of this planet's surface will now belong to me."

"You can't do that," I suddenly heard, "who do you think you are!?"

I looked down at the elderly man, who had decided to open his mouth, looking up at me furiously.

Without a second thought, I grew my arm to and exceptional length, my fingers turning hard and sharp, like pikes, and promptly drove my hand clean through the old bastard's body. The crowd of villagers cried out fearfully as I dropped the stupid elder's corpse to ground; just for the hell of it, I flicked the blood on my deadly fingers at the humans standing closest to me.

As soon as I saw the old guy's soul emerge from his body, I snatched it up in my monstrous hands, held it up for all present to see, and then pressed it against my chest, absorbing it into my body, where it joined my own soul and Asgore's soul.

"Take that as a warning for the time to come," I voiced, "anyone who dares question, challenge, or even speak to me without permission, will be done in on the spot and their souls will be absorbed by me!"

I scanned the crowd with satisfaction as I saw humans trembling with anxiety and anger, people crying, some silently weeping while some were outright bawling, some were simply petrified, they didn't know how to react beyond hyperventilating.

"Now, unless I have to gut another brain-dead fish," I asserted, "I suggest that everyone drop to their knees in front of me and readily accept me as your leader, anyone who remains standing will meet the same fate as that elderly dumbfuck moments ago!"

One by one, I watched villagers slowly sink to the ground in submission, I did notice a few "brave" souls who tried to remain standing, only to be forced down by any loved ones who were close by. Soon, just as I had always wanted, the entire village was on the ground in front of me, some with their faces in the dirt.

"Good, very good," I laughed, "now that we're all on the same page, I think it's time we spread the word to the other villages, yeah?"

* * *

 **(Asriel's POV)**

One day, it had been one day since Dad, King Asgore, King of all monsters, had died, and I still could not believe it, nobody could. Same as everyone else, I didn't want it to be real, I just wanted to close my eyes, hoping that when I opened them I would find that it had all been a horrible nightmare and my dad was there to tell me that it wasn't real. But, the worst part about the whole thing was, not only had my father died such a brutal death, but, it turned out to actually be...Chara's fault.

Daddy's last words have been looping repeatedly in my head ever since I first heard them:

 _"It was Chara._

 _Chara betrayed me, he lied to us, mislead us._

 _He was never going to help us._

 _Chara...used me to kill a human._

 _Do not...let...Chara...take...yours..._ "

I could not believe what I had heard at the time, I though that for sure I had heard wrong or that Dad had misspoken, but, when it was all over, Chara was nowhere to be found. As soon as word of Dad's death and Chara's disappearance had spread to the rest of the underground, Mom ordered that monsters search everywhere they could, hoping that we would find Chara and get some answers.

However, it wasn't until Sans had taken another look at the recorded footage of Dad's demise that we got our answer. Watching the recording, we finally saw that as soon as Dad has turned to dust, while everyone was distracted, Chara ran from the castle, leaving through the exit that lead to barrier. From that, we came to the only possible conclusion, which was that Chara had crossed back through the barrier with my father's soul.

Knowing that, I could deny the truth of Dad's dying words no longer, it was true, Chara had betrayed us, gotten my Dad, our king, killed and stole his soul.

As soon as that realization set in, I ran straight to my room, overwrought with so many emotions, rage, hurt, sadness, confusion, I just couldn't think straight at all. Wracked with despair, I proceeded to trash my room, destroying everything that belonged to Chara, toys, crafts, clothing, everything that we had given him, ending my tear by using my magic to obliterate Chara's bed. I was sure that Mom was going to be upset with me for causing such a mess, but, I didn't care, I was furious, miserable.

I then remembered that there was more stuff throughout the house that also belonged to Chara, so, I left my room and ran to the living room. I went straight to one of stands near the stairwell and opened the drawer, inside was a calendar, in which we had marked the date on which Chara had come here. I picked up the calendar and promptly burned it to ash with my fire magic. Next to go was Chara's chair at the dining table, then the books that specifically had belonged to Chara from the bookshelf, I finished there by trashing all of the pictures that had Chara in them, the ones that were only of me and Chara or just Chara alone I destroyed completely.

I went to the bathroom **(I know that the monsters don't use toilets, but, they still bathe/shower and use sinks)** and disposed of Chara's toothbrush, incinerated his towels and wash cloths, and dumped all of his shampoo and soap down the drain.

Soon, there was nothing left that specifically belong to Chara, by this point, my rage had gone and was replaced by bitter grief. Silently, as if dazed, I walked out of the house, lumbering over to the pile of leaves just up ahead. Once I walked onto the leaves, I dropped to my knees and started crying, there was no point in trying to suppress it, as there was nobody around.

"Why, Chara?" I voiced, almost involuntarily, "Why did you do this? We all loved you so much, you were part of our family...my brother...and we so much together."

I breathed deeply, rubbing my eyes vigorously.

"Did all of this, all of us, really mean absolutely nothing to you?" I continued, growing angry once again, "Of course...that must be the case, to commit such a horrible act...you couldn't have cared about anyone here at all..."

I continued to inhale and exhale deeply, my tears soon stopped, but, my crossness remained.

"You...better not _ever_ come back here," I muttered, "Chara...I hate you...I _hate_ you."

I huffed angrily, then looked on tensely.

For the first time in my young life, I actually hated somebody.

* * *

 **(Toriel's POV)**

I was standing in the corridor that led from our house to the throne room, there I had stood for at least an hour, just staring out the window. It had been only a day since Asgore, my beloved husband, my king, the father of my child, had gone from this world, turned to dust in my arms. I had yet to change my clothes or tidy myself up at all, even now I was wearing the same dress I had been yesterday, at that very moment, the same dress, along with my fur, still caked with the remains of my beloved.

I had not spoken to, or even made eye-contact with anyone all day, I woke up so early, despite not going to bed until well past midnight and only sleeping for about two hours. All night, even as I slept for that short time, I heard Asriel sobbing uncontrollably, I cannot even say with confidence how much sleep, if any he got last night. I felt so bad, I hate seeing my childr-...my child... so unhappy, but, what could I do? What could I say? That he should not cry? That everything was going to be okay? It would have been unreasonable...insulting...to say such things.

Everything was not fine and we should be crying, we should be...I want to...yet...I'm not.

Asriel has cried off and on copiously since yesterday, however, I myself have yet to shed a single tear.

Perhaps I was still in shock?

I mean...it happened so fast, Asgore and Chara left the castle alive and well, Asgore told us with confidence that they would be okay and I believed him. Then, they returned with Asgore on the edge of death, with just enough strength to explain what happened:

" _Chara betrayed me._

 _When the other humans...saw...they...they attacked with everything they had_."

That is what he said.

So, after everything we did for Chara, after everything we had given him, after all of the time we had spent with him, he did not care about us? We took him as our own child, Asriel followed him everywhere, and he always seemed to have fun with us.

But...it was all to deceive us...he betrayed us...and in the _worst_ possible way.

To think that my motherly instincts would be taken advantage of so shamelessly.

I looked down and began to pace slowly around the corridor.

I remember whenever anyone asked Chara what humans were like, he always spoke negatively about them, said that they were cruel, selfish, cowardly. We thought that he spoke only from bad experiences, we tried to disprove him by saying that he was different.

Chara would always say that he was no different from other humans at all, in fact, he would say that he was probably the worst one of all. Whenever he said that, we laughed, we thought it was a joke, just childlike banter.

How blind we were.

If a human, a child, can be so ungrateful, so _heartless_ , that they can promptly turn on and destroy the people who cared for them most, then perhaps Chara's words rung true. Not just about himself, but, of all humans, which is much more evident, given what those humans did to my king.

Of course, why am I so shocked?

After all, it was the humans who trapped us down here in the first place, right after they slaughtered countless of our kind in a war started out of their own fear and paranoia.

They truly are horrible, savage abominations.

My people are already falling into despair, not just from the loss of their king, but, because our chances of freedom have fallen far away.

They want justice...and so do I.

The humans must pay for what they have done to us.

* * *

 **(Still Toriel's POV)**

After a long, silent walk, I made it to Dr. Gaster's lab, where upon entering I found his children in the first room.

It did not take them long to notice my presence.

"Ah, Queen Toriel." Alphys said tensely.

"Children," I spoke calmly, "where is your father?"

"Uh, he's...in his room," Sans answered, "he hasn't come out since going in there yesterday after...stuff..."

That comes as no surprise to me.

"I see, well, I need to speak to him about something." I said.

Without saying another word, Sans led me through the lab, until we came to the stop in front of metal door at the end of a long corridor. The slight skeleton teenager then cautiously knocked on the door.

"Dad?" Sans called.

No response.

"Dad," Sans called again, "the queen's here, she wants to talk to you."

After several seconds of silence, we suddenly heard an odd whirring noise.

"Good luck." the skeleton teenager said to me, before walking away.

Moments after Sans had walked away, the door in front of me opened and there stood Dr. Gaster.

Just like me, the scientist was still wearing the same clothes he had been yesterday, his expression was...unreadable.

"Y...Your Highness." he voiced feebly.

I could feel right away that he was not all there, of course, how could he be? He and Asgore were the best of friends after all.

"Sorry to intrude." I started pragmatically.

"N-No, no worries...madam..." Gaster replied awkwardly, "it's fine...what can I do for you?"

I inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"The human soul that Asgore collected," I inquired, "you took care of it like I asked, right?"

"Naturally," the skeleton man affirmed, "I put it up so the kids wouldn't mess with it."

"Show me to it." I requested.

He looked confused.

"What fo-" he started to ask.

"Now!" I prompted, realizing how forceful I sounded, I pulled myself back, "P-Please."

Gaster led me to another room in another part of the lab, this one secured with a high-tech locking mechanism.

"This is where I keep all of the stuff I deem too dangerous for the kids to handle." he explained, as he pressed a sequence of buttons.

With that, the door opened to a room full of baffling and some-what ominous-looking creations.

"Here it is." Gaster stated.

He took a glass canister off of the highest shelf, inside of it was the green human soul my dearest husband had brought back with him.

"What exactly do you want this for?" the scientist wondered.

"I need to borrow it." I replied simply.

* * *

 **(Gaster's POV)**

I quickly followed behind Queen Toriel, trying my hardest to keep up with her broad, brisk strides; just like Asgore, despite her size, she moved remarkably fast. But, I also had to be careful, as I was carrying the glass case containing the lone human soul brought to us by Asgore before he...I just couldn't risk dropping it.

The queen had informed me of a plan she had, a plan to allegedly "avenge" Asgore and free us from the underground, but, honestly, I was quite against it.

"Please refrain from dawdling, Doctor," Queen Toriel prompted, "I would prefer this not to be delayed any further."

I wrapped my arms tightly around the glass case to secure it and hurried up next to the queen, literally putting everything I had into keeping pace with her. Now I just had to pray that I did not trip over anything.

"My Queen," I voiced, "are you sure about this "mission" of yours? I know you're still in mourning, we all are, I mean, it's only been _one day_ since...since Asgore passed..."

"This goes beyond grief alone, Gaster," the queen then interjected, "the human race has inflicted one too many affronts to us from the beginning, when _we_ have hardly done anything to them at all." Anger rose up in her voice as she spoke, "Killing Asgore...was just the final drop that made the glass run over..."

She clenched her fists as she continued moving.

"It is time that they pay for their crimes against us." she said coldly.

I couldn't help but cringe, this body language, this demeanor, was a kind that I, nor anyone else that I knew of, had ever seen from our queen, even at her angriest, it was like she was an entirely different monster.

Soon, we made it to the throne room.

"Your Highness," I finally replied, "it's not that I disagree with you, I agree with everything that you just said, but, I'm worried that you may not have thought this whole thing entirely through."

Queen Toriel turned to face me with a staid look on her face.

"The humans created that barrier, they could just as easily take it away," I explained, "think, the closest human village was already "attacked" by one monster who killed one of their own and God knows what Chara has done up there with Asgore's soul in his possession."

She did not respond.

"You think my actions would drive them to come down here after I us?" she responded soberly.

"What would stop them?" I asserted, "They slaughtered Asgore because they _thought_ he intentionally killed one of their own, imagine what they would do if another monster showed up and completely laid-waste to the land!"

The queen remained silent once again.

"We...we've already lost our king, Madam," I said desolately, "I don't think we could afford to lose you, too."

Still, she didn't speak.

"And Asriel," I continued, "are you really going to risk orphaning...or even imperiling him...all for the sake of vengeance?"

I know it seemed like a cheap trick to use Asriel's well-being against her, but, how else could I get through to her? For God's sake, I have children of my own, if she goes through with this attack of hers and makes even one mistake up there, then they'll be in danger as well.

Is she really so blinded by heartache that she is going to completely disregard how this will effect even her own child?

Finally, she spoke again.

"Asriel...will be just fine," Queen Toriel expressed, much to my shock, "after all, unlike Asgore, I will not be fused with a traitor who could take control of me any moment, with this human soul, I will take what we need from the humans and run them into the ground, when I get back, I will have so much power, that, should any humans even try to harm us once again, they will be reduced to literally nothing."

I could find no words to respond, to hear her speak so callously, so viciously, it was almost sickening.

"I will get us to the surface," she avowed, looking up at the windows, "I will bring my child the happiness he deserves."

The queen then looked at me again.

"You want the same for your own children...do you not?" she inquired.

I would have been offended...had I not just used a similar argument.

"Naturally...My Queen." I sighed.

The room was silent for several seconds.

"Now, Doctor," she impelled, "the human soul, if you please."

I looked down at the glass case, observing the green soul floating inside, then, after a moment of hesitation, I reluctantly opened the case and took the soul out, handing it over to the queen. Despite my misgivings, I was in no position to defy her.

She looked at the soul with a most keen expression.

"At last," Queen Toriel declared earnestly, "we will have justice."

"Right..." I mumbled, "justice."

* * *

All righty, getting to the big stuff.

I almost put that last part in Asriel's point of view, but, I decided that it would be a good idea to put Gaster's view in, since he was involved with the whole situation as well.

His comment: "They slaughtered Asgore because they _thought_ he intentionally killed one of their own, imagine what they would do if another monster showed up and completely laid-waste to the land!" Is based nearly word for word on what my thoughts are regarding what Toriel tells Asgore near the Pacifist end of the game, about how he could have gone through the barrier with one soul, taken six from the humans, and then go back and free them.

My thoughts every time I see her say that: "Really, Toriel, the humans annihilated Asriel because they _thought_ he killed a (lone) human, you really think things would have gone smoothly if Asgore actually went up there straight killed people?"

I just cannot help but feel that, as smart as Toriel is intellectually, she does not think everything entirely through.


	4. Chapter 4

Decaytale

Chapter 4.

Here we go.

* * *

 **(Gaster's POV)**

As soon as Queen Toriel absorbed the human soul, her entire body changed, she grew at least five feet taller, her horns grew twice their lengths, and her eyes turned black.

"Y-Your Highness?" I spoke haltingly.

She looked at me with her void, empty eyes, the sight I swear made my soul seize for only a moment.

"Just...be careful." I said feebly.

"Do not worry," the queen replied, her voice distorted and gruff, "this will not take long."

With that, she headed towards the barrier.

A few minutes later, I was still waiting anxiously in the throne room.

"Uncle." I suddenly heard.

When I turned around, I found Asriel looking up at me curiously.

"Where did my mom go?" he asked.

I tensed at his question.

What was I supposed to say?

I couldn't possibly just tell him what was actually going on could I?

How do you tell a child that their mother is going out on what I can only assume is a murder rampage.

Of course, he'll find out about it regardless of whether I tell him right here and now or not.

"She...had something that she had to take care of," I said awkwardly, "but, there's no telling how long she'll be."

The prince looked disappointed.

"Okay then," he said, "I'll just wait here until she gets back."

"Wait...here?" I uttered tensely, "Are you sure?"

Of course he'll find out what his mother's doing no matter, but...there's no telling what she's going to look like when she gets back. I don't think he should be here for that.

"Asriel, you know...you don't have to wait here," I offered, "that's my job, you can do anything else, heck, go play in the lab if you want."

In any other circumstance, I would never suggest such a thing, but...I had no idea what else I could say or do to get his attention.

"Nah," the boy replied dismally, "I don't really...feel like...'playing' right bow."

He walked over to the corner of the room and sank down into the flower.

"I just want my mom." I heard him mumble.

Seeing him sit there, I could see that there was nothing I could say that would make him leave, the only other option would be to actually pick him up and physically take him out of the room. But...I couldn't do that, it would just make him ask more questions, questions that I could not and would not answer.

Silently wracked with anxiety, I walked over and leaned against the wall, just wishing that this whole thing would just end quickly.

* * *

 **(Toriel's POV)**

After absorbing the human soul, I marched straight through the barrier and headed straightaway for the human village.

I did not even bother entering, mustering all of the power of the combined souls inside me, I rose high into the air and promptly bombarded the entire area with a fierce barrage of massive fireballs. Just like that, the entire village was burning and humans were fleeing their houses and running every which way to escape the flames, but, they were not all going to get away.

I dropped to the ground, in the center of the village, and created a shockwave that shook the surrounding area, causing many of the burning establishments to crumble and every human within range to fall to the ground.

"You..." I growled, "You are all going to pay!"

I closed my eyes and, using my power, I telepathically lifted much of the heavy, some still burning, debris, and proceeded to fling it in all directions, all the while, the humans continued to scream and cry and beg for it to stop. Let them carry on, they brought this upon themselves, this is what centuries of senseless mistreatment will get you, filthy, horrible, savage creatures.

I continued my siege for what seemed like an eternity, until I finally got tired and stopped all at once.

Finally, I opened my eyes and looked around at what I had done, every structure was destroyed, no section of the pavement was left intact, smoke was filling the air. I looked around and saw several wounded and some, more than likely, dead humans scattered across the ground.

I think they got the message.

With that, I turned away from the destruction and made my way back towards the underground.

As soon as I entered the throne room, I saw Dr. Gaster still there waiting for me.

As soon as the skeleton man saw me, he recoiled in shock; I then separated the human soul from my own and handed it back to the scientist, who took it with shaking hands.

"It is done." I huffed.

I then noticed that Dr. Gaster was now looking past me with an anxious look on his face, I turned to see what he was looking at and saw...

"Asriel?" I uttered quietly.

Somehow, when I entered the room, I had completely missed my son standing in the corner, I can only assume he had been waiting for me to return.

"Mom...ma." he spoke meekly.

My child looked on with the most horrified look on his face, probably the most afraid I had ever seen him, and he was looking at _me_.

I then looked down at myself for the first time since I finished laying waste to the human village and found that I was covered from head to toe in soot, dirt, and even human blood.

Only then had I realized what I had done.

Oh God...what _had_ I done!?

* * *

 **(Asriel's POV)**

I saw Mom enter the throne room, but, she looked quite different, obviously from merging with the human soul, which she quickly handed back to Dr. Gaster, who looked quite disturbed by her. However, he then turned his attention to me and, soon after, so did my mom.

It was then I got a better look at her and what I saw...was like something from a horrific nightmare. Her fur was filthy, he clothing was soiled and torn in places, she was even covered in red stains of varying sizes. No doubt, it was human blood, I had seen Chara bleed enough times to recognize it.

Did she really...

"Mom..." I questioned, barely able to get my words out, "what...why are...you..."

She now looked very nervous.

Dr. Gaster, who also looked quite anxious, quickly left the room, clutching the case with human soul in it, looking as if he was about to fall apart.

"A-Asriel," she voiced tensely, "it is...okay...Mommy was just...teaching the humans a lesson...and...it was the only way to get any human souls..."

"What human souls!?" I uttered.

The only human soul I saw from her was the one she had used to go to the surface, the one Dad had brought back with him.

Mom froze with an alarmed look on her face, apparently only then realizing that she had not gotten any other souls in her endeavor. But, what actually was her goal? She's talking about "Teaching the humans a lesson", but, what did that have to do with anything?

After all, it was Chara who was responsible for Dad's death!

So, what was the point of her actions?

What exactly _were_ her actions!?

If she was talking about getting human souls...

"Momma...what did you _do_?" I asked uneasily.

Honestly, I don't think I actually wanted to know, she's _covered_ in blood!

Mom looked at me restlessly, her mouth was moving, but, no actual words were coming out and the look in her eyes was fixed and pained, it was as if he brain had momentarily shut down.

"I just...the humans...I..." she spoke shakily, faltering over her words as she did, "...I had to...punish them...for all that they have done to us. You see...I had to...I made them...feel our pain...feel Daddy's pain...the pain that they..."

"Stop!" I uttered.

I couldn't stand to hear anymore of what she had to say, what little I had heard was enough to make me feel physically ill. Seeing her eyes turn vacant and her blood-soaked hands shake as she spoke, I knew, I knew that she was gone.

"You killed them!?" I queried hysterically, "You went up there and you _killed_ people!?"

She didn't say anything, she just looked at me guiltily in affirmation.

I felt tears building in my eyes as the room seemed to start spinning, once again, I prayed that I was actually asleep and having a nightmare.

God, tell me this isn't real!

Tell me that I'm going to wake up and see that everything is fine and normal, that Mom and Dad are happy and sound, that nothing bad has happened to us!

"What happened to 'Violence is _never_ the answer'?" I voiced tearfully, "What happened to treating all life as precious? How could you have thrown your ideals so quickly and so horribly!?"

"A-Asriel..." Mom spoke feebly.

She took a step towards me with outstretched arms, possibly attempting to hug me, disgusted, I quickly lurched away from her.

"Don't touch me!" I cried, "You're psychotic! You're horrible! You're _sick_!"

My vision was blurring, I felt woozy, I just wanted to disintegrate right then and there.

"I _HATE_ YOU!" I screamed.

Without a second thought, I pushed past my mother, dashing out of the throne room, running as fast as I could through the castle. Even when I had found my way out of the castle, I didn't stop, I couldn't, I wanted to escape, to get as far away from _her_ and this place as possible. So, I continued to sprint all the way through the Core, then Hotland and Waterfall, I'm pretty sure I heard other monsters call out to me as I ran, but, I payed them no mind, I couldn't stop now, I couldn't.

Eventually, after running for so long, I actually made it all the way to Snowdin Forest and found myself on a familiar pathway.

By now, the run had finally caught up with me, as well as the cold, but, that was not too much of a problem, thanks to my fur. My legs had become numb, making it impossible for me to run anymore, but, I still did not stop, I kept walking along the path until I came to a massive door.

I knew this door, I had been quite a long time since I had seen it, but I knew where it lead. It was Home, the first city the monsters had created after being forced underground after the war. It was also the place where I was born, where I lived with Mom and Dad for many years, until...Chara came. Chara lived with us here for a while, before we moved out to New Home.

As soon as I got to the door, I used our family's special spell to get it open, we were the only ones who could open it from either side, to every other monster, it would be locked from this side. I stumbled down the long corridor until I came to a flight of stairs, despite my legs being numbed, and now a bit sore, I managed to pull myself up the stairs. When I got to the top, I found myself back in my old house and I was amazed at the good condition it was in. It was like time had stood completely still, like it had not been abandoned for more than a day.

I staggered through the house, looking at everything, my mind instantly flooding with memories from so long ago, memories of just me and my parents living our days simply and peacefully. Somehow, without realizing it, I had made my way to the front entrance of the house and wandered out into the "yard", where a big, dead tree stood. I couldn't believe that it was still there after all this time.

However, it was then that my mood had gone from nostalgic to doleful, as I remembered that it was right here, right by this tree, that I had introduced Chara to Mom and Dad. I remember that day so vividly, I brought Chara here from the far edge of the Ruins, after I found him on the ground, hurt from his fall. Chara had said practically nothing the entire walk, about the only exchange we had at that time was our introductions.

Looking back on it, I remember now, how cold and indifferent Chara had been then, when I found him, when I brought him to Mom and Dad, when they offered to take him in. I didn't think much of it at the time, I chalked it up to him being in pain from his injuries and possibly having had a rough time on the surface.

But, now I think differently, after what has just recently happened, I am now certain that what I saw back then was a glimpse at who Chara really was. The Chara I knew after that, who shared a room with me, played with me, shared secrets with me, and listened to Mom and Dad's stores with me, was not real, none of it was real.

Lost in my thoughts and with my legs unable to go any further, I finally collapsed to ground in a slanted sitting position and proceeded to sob uncontrollably. Everything was ruined, everything that I knew was gone, Chara had lied to, betrayed, and deserted us, my dad was dead, and my mother had come completely unhinged.

The fact that it all happened so quickly only made it worse, Chara's betrayal and Dad's death had happened only yesterday, Dad's dust was still fresh in the garden of the throne room, and now, only moments ago, my mother went to the surface and murdered God knows how many people in cold blood.

Why did Mom have to do that!? Why!? Those humans had no idea what was happening, they saw a monster come into their village uninvited, they saw it kill a human, though they were unaware of the circumstances surrounding it. They were probably scared, horrified, they probably that they would all be killed, I'm sure they had families of their own that they were worried about.

How could she fault them for fearing for their lives, how would we have reacted if we found a human down here with a pile of monster dust at their feet?

"Daddy," I uttered in my despair, "I want Daddy."

I continued to wallow in sorrow, until I heard strange noises, shuffling, scraping, even croaking; I looked around and was surprised by what I saw. A small number of familiar looking monster folk had showed up, Froggits, Moldsmals, Loox, and Whimsuns were all looking at me curiously. I guess they must have heard me carrying on.

"Oh...um..." I replied meekly, "hello everyone, sorry if I disturbed you."

"*Ribbit* Prince Asriel? *Ribbit*" one of the Froggits croaked curiously.

"Yeah," I sighed, "that's me."

"What are you doing here?" a Loox asked, "Are you here by yourself?"

"*Ribbit* Yeah *Ribbit*," a Froggit added, "why isn't Chara with you?"

A Moldsmal then made a squelching noise.

"Yeah," a Loox voiced, "where _are_ your parents?"

"And why were you crying?" a Whimsun added.

So many awkward questions all at once, but, from them it occurred to me that these monsters were unaware of the situation. I guess the news had yet to reach all the way out here, then again, it had only been _one fricking day!_

"Um...you guys didn't hear about it yet, huh?" I voiced, "Then, I guess, I better tell you..."

I explained the whole situation to the other monsters, the truth about Chara and what he did, Dad's demise, Mom's transgression, ending of course with why I was there now. Naturally, they were stunned.

"King Asgore is...dead?" a Whimsun whimpered.

"Queen Toriel really did that?" a Loox mumbled.

They didn't believe me immediately, I didn't blame them of course, who could, or would even want to, believe such things. But, when I began to tear up again after giving them the news, I guess they didn't doubt me any further.

"I don't wanna go home," I lamented, "I can't, I can't, I just can't."

As I rubbed my wet eyes, I was suddenly surrounded and hugged by some of the other monsters.

"Please, don't cry anymore your highness." a Whimsun murmured.

A Moldsmal made a quietly squishy noise.

"Yeah, you can always stay here with us for as long as you want." a Loox said.

Finally, I felt the first sense of true comfort since all of the bad things had happened.

"I guess I could stay here," I said docilely, "the old house is still intact and there's plenty of room here."

I tried to stand up, but, as soon as I did, I fell right back down, I guess my legs were still shot.

"Oh yeah," I told the surrounding monster, "by the way, I literally ran the entire way here."

Since I was unable to stand up, some of the monsters helped me back to the house, I asked them to take to my old room, so I could see how it looked after all this time. Just like the rest of the house, it looked just about the same at the rest of the house, like time had stood completely still. Everything was still here, my old wardrobe, my old dresser, my old bed, everything that was mine and mine alone. We left it all behind when we moved to New Home, because we had planned to fill the new castle only with brand new essentials.

"You've had quite the ordeal, your highness," the Loox at my right side said, "and you've come an awful long ways, on foot no less."

"*Ribbit* Why not rest for a bit *Ribbit*?" the Froggit at my left offered.

Feeling my desensitized legs quivering and my eyelids now surprisingly heavy, I could not help but concede.

"Yeah," I said, "I guess I could."

I climbed onto the bed and collapsed against the old pillow, too tired to mind the layer of dust coating its surface.

As soon as I was covered, my eyes closed, practically involuntarily, and I was out.

* * *

Yay, new chapter done.

I will get back to the Tyrantale finale, I just got distracted by some other games as of late, but, I am still working on it, I swear.


End file.
